We completed a major remodeling project on our grain handling system at our home farm in Yorkville. We replaced the grain legs and the grain dryer to higher speed equipment. We also added a 350,000 bushels storage bin.

Below is a record of the project that took place in the summer of 2009.

November 11The grain system is now fully functional. We started recieving and drying corn there this week.

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October 16The heads of the grain legs were set today. The top of the legs are around 140 feet tall. Work continues on the electrical systems and grain conveyors.

Although the project is running behind schedule, it should be completed before the harvest crew returns from central Illinois. We do not expect the harvest to start in the Yorkville area until nearly November 1.

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October 10thBelow is a picture of the current grain setup project. The dryer is done with a finished height of about 106 feet. The grain legs should be completed this week. Work continues on the electrical systems. We are busy rebuilding the dump pit shed and electrical room.

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October 4Most of the major components of the grain setup are in place. The concrete work is finished including all the tunnel work and flat work. The grain bin is complete as well. The grain dryer is nearly complete and should be finished this week. The dryer is a Zimmerman/GSI dryer with a capacity of 5000 bushels per hour at 5 points of moisture removed. The dryer is 18 feet wide by 100 feet tall. The grain legs should start to go back up this week.

The project is slightly behind schedule but it should be finished before the corn is ready to harvest in the Yorkville area.

Below are some pictures of the work done over the last several weeks.

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September 9The grain bin roof is now on and the crew will start jacking up the structure and adding rings tomorrow. The tunnels and below ground rooms that hold the grain legs are dug and the concrete walls are poured on all but one section. Digging the walls and breaking into the old pit room through 4 feet of concrete proved to be a challenge but things are starting to come together. The pictures below highlight some of our work this past week.

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September 2The grain bin is starting to go up. The cement work on the bin was completed on Monday. The aeration floor was installed today and the roof should go up tomorrow.

We are digging the tunnels for the rest of the renovation. Tunnels that convey corn from the bin and old dump pit are being added. The dump pit tunnel is a challenge since the bottom of the pit is 16 feet down. We dug out the tunnels and knocked a hole through the old room next to the dump pit. This is where the new conveyor will come up.

The photos below show the current progress.

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August 18thThe new grain dryer was delivered today (or at least all the parts that will become the new grain dryer). We are still a ways off from having the rest of the equipment and cement work done for the dryer but it is good to have it on hand already. The dryer is a GSI brand that will be 100 feet tall and capable of drying 5000 bushels per hour at 5 points of moisture removed.

The cement work continues on the grain bin. The aeration floors were poured today.

August 12Work continues on the grain setup project. Over the last several weeks we have knocked out a lot of concrete and old structures to get ready for the new equipment.

The grain bin foundation is being poured and should be completed this week. Hopefully we have now turned the corner from the demolition phase to reconstruction.

Below are some images of the work done over the past several weeks.

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Silo Demolition VideoBelow is the video of us knocking down an old stave silo that was in the way for our grain system renovation. The silo had been used for our wet holding tank ahead of the grain dryer. Taking it down was complicated by the fact that it was attached to the dump pit shed that we wanted to keep and it was close to other buildings. The silo was safely brought down on July 30th. We took the silo down by knocking out the cement blocks/staves. Two guys started knocking out staves in the direction that we wanted the silo to fall. They worked around the silo knocking out an equal number of staves until they were just past half way around.

The video shows that there were a few anxious moments before the silo came down.

July 7 and 8th We finished taking out the old legs and corn dryer that last couple of days. The next major hurdle is taking out old stave concrete silo that was used as wet corn storage. This old silo is in the way for the new dryer. In the new system we will be using the first large silo for wet corn holding. Taking down the old silo will be tricky since it is close to other buildings and it has a poured concrete roof.

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July 6thWe started work on the grain system project today. Harms Grain Equipment out of Marengo, IL is helping us do the work. We took down the old wet grain leg today as well as all the spouting from that leg. The wet leg was used to transfer corn form the dump pit and the wet holding silo to the corn dryer. The old grain legs were put up new in 1977. They are still in fairly good shape but at 2,500 bushels per hour they can not keep up with today's harvesting speed.